Mark Gillespie - second quickest bowler in New Zealand. Photo / Getty Images
Emerging fast bowler Mark Gillespie would love nothing more than to be thrown in the deep end tomorrow when a New Zealand side without Shane Bond squares off against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
One of more positive stories to emerge from New Zealand's so-far barren run
in the tri-series, Gillespie initially surprised observers with his pace during the home programme against Sri Lanka, and has continued to impress since arriving in Australia.
The 27-year-old Wellington paceman has been regularly clocked in excess of 140km/h while operating as a first-change bowler; performances confirming him as the second quickest paceman in the country and the natural heir apparent to Bond.
With Bond almost certainly out of tomorrow's game, Gillespie seems likely to be offered more responsibility in terms of taking the new ball, a prospect he said would excite him rather than weigh on his mind.
"It [opening the bowling] doesn't faze me at all," he said. "The new ball is what I know. I've done it all my life and I'm sure I'd thrive on the extra responsibility.
"I probably can bowl faster; you can do that with the new ball. I've been bowling first change and the tendency is to be a couple of clicks down on what you normally are. But if I get the new ball and I have the wind behind me, then I'll probably be able to hit top-speed."
Gillespie took two for 50 off 10 overs against Australia at Hobart and then grabbed one for 40 off six during the last-over loss to England a couple of days later; performances that he said needed to be improved upon.
But he said he wasn't in the least bit intimidated by the star-studded reputations of the Australian batsmen.
"You have plans for each individual batsman and you know what your plan is when they arrive at the crease. But apart from that it doesn't matter who they are."
